What Can't Be Done
by TreacleTart301
Summary: Hermione Granger has set her mind to changing the restrictions on werewolf rights. Too bad she doesnt't know that it can't be done.
" _...it is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done."_

 _-Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett_

Hermione Granger sat at her desk in her office at the ministry. Her arms were covered in blue smudges from the ink she was using to draft proposed legislation. Dark purple rings decorated the bottom of her eyes, the only indication of her recent insomnia. A pile of old tea bags sat in the corner of her desk on a soggy napkin and several crumpled up pieces of parchment littered the floor behind her. She was sat forward in her chair, her elbows on the desk and her hands running through her bushy brown hair.

Directly in front of her sat the final copy of the legislation for House Elf rights. It had taken months of fighting with bureaucrats, giving speeches, and trying to rally support. Polite people had smiled and looked at her as if she were a bit crazy. Not so polite people told her so directly to her face. Regardless, nothing stopped her from marching on. She was convinced that House Elves deserved the same rights as humans and nothing anyone might say would cause her to change her mind.

Many people humoured her proposal out of respect for her past. She was after all a member of the Golden Trio and even all of these years after the war, her name still held a bit of clout. Occasionally, she used that fame to her advantage, but really, she didn't care why anyone supported her, just so long as they were willing to vote the legislation through.

Open support of her cause was very rare. There were those who were convinced that all magical creatures deserved fair treatment, but few of them were willing to stand up beside her for fear of the damage that it might do to their own political careers. House Elves weren't a popular cause with the common folk and fighting for their rights wouldn't win elections as one Wizengamot member had so kindly told her.

Minister Kingsley was one of the few who had been very vocal about all magical creatures being treated equally. In his tenure as a politician, he had enacted more species protection laws than any other Minister in history. Hermione found him to be an admirable man and a vehement supporter of her proposal.

Even with his support, it seemed that there were many more who were against her. Every time her proposed legislation was brought up for a vote, she felt deflated as it was easily defeated over and over again. After each loss she would get to her office and see the picture of Dobby on her desk and she would be inspired to fight some more. It was a vicious cycle.

Now here she was on the night of the final vote. Her bill had barely passed by the narrowest of margins. In fact, she was quite worried that she didn't have the majority at all earlier in the day, but in the end she squeaked through with just two more votes than were needed. It was a quiet victory, but one that she couldn't be more proud of.

Instead of going out to celebrate, she headed back to the office to get started on her next project. On her way there, she bumped into Rita Skeeter, who happened to be leaving work for the evening. Pausing for just a moment, Rita asked her for a quote on her most recent case. Hermione gave her a quick rundown of the vote, but Rita seemed more interested in her personal life.

"So Hermione, now that you've won equal rights for House Elves, what do you plan to do next?"

Hermione paused for a moment and smiled. "Well actually, I'm planning on beginning legislation for Werewolves rights. It will be called the Remus Lupin Werewolf Protection act and will honor the memory of my friend and a very brave man who fought valiantly for the Order of The Phoenix."

"Oh, honey. Between you and I, I think werewolf rights is going to be an impossible case to win. You'd do better to put your energy elsewhere," the old witch said with an acidic smile.

Hermione smiled back. "I don't believe that it's impossible. Werewolves deserve rights as much as we do and I intend to make everyone else believe it as well."

Turning around, Hermione walked into her office. Promptly sitting down, she wrote one draft and then another and then one more just to be safe. It was well past midnight before she was finished. In her heart, she knew that the odds were against her, but she would continue the fight regardless.

* * *

 _Hi there!_

 _This story was originally posted on HPFF for the Terry Pratchett Challenge where it won 3_ _rd_ _place. We were each assigned a quote from a Terry Pratchett book. Mine is listed at the beginning of this chapter. It immediately made me think of Hermione._

 _I'd love to know what you thought of this, so don't be shy about leaving a comment._

 _Thanks for reading!_

 _~Kaitlin/TreacleTart_


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